Sheil Kapadia

Philly.com

Rick Gosselin of the The Dallas Morning News is out with his annual special-teams rankings. The Birds come in at No. 14. According to Gosselin, the Eagles had the most penalized special-teams unit (25 for 198) in the NFL last season.

If NFL games are indeed won in the trenches, the Philadelphia Eagles will be in position to compete for an NFC title in 2011. The Eagles have hired, in my opinion, the best offensive and defensive line coaches in the NFL.

Howard Mudd , who won a Super Bowl ring with the Indianapolis Colts , was hired to coach the offensive line, and his good friend, Jim Washburn, was hired to coach the defensive line. Washburn spent the last 12 seasons with Tennessee, and his coaching turned enigmatic Albert Haynesworth into a Pro Bowler with the Titans.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Eagles tried to pry Haynesworth loose from the Redskins this off-season. Washburn is the one coach who has been able to tap into the vast talent of Haynesworth.

For what it's worth, Gosselin's take on Haynesworth came before the Redskins' defensive tackle made headlines again for allegedly sexually abusing a waitress.

Considering Kolb's experience and age, Philly should hope for a haul similar to what the Atlanta Falcons received for Matt Schaub from the Texans. Atlanta picked up two second-round picks and moved up two spots in the first round of that year's draft. With the 23rd pick in the first round, the Eagles don't have an obvious trading partner in need of a quarterback nearby; the closest candidate is the Miami Dolphins, who pick 15th. If the Eagles can move up and get a pair of mid-round picks, they should pull the trigger and consider it a good haul.

But because of the dearth of quality starting quarterbacks in the NFL, league sources believe the Eagles will wind up looking to move Kolb, because his value will be very high to other teams around the league. Possible suitors include the Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans. The only real issue that could prevent them trading Kolb is if the projected lockout of the players because of a lack of a new CBA extends into July/August.

Len Pasquarelli of FoxSports.com says former Birds defensive coordinator Sean McDermott didn't respond well to the Eagles' new personnel in 2010:

While no one in Philadelphia will say it publicly, deposed coordinator Sean McDermott perhaps didn't respond as well to the retooling of the Eagles' defense in 2010, and in his two seasons as the boss attempted to retain much of the design and verbiage created by the late Jim Johnson.

One veteran Philadelphia defender told The Sports Xchange after the season: "A lot of the stuff was the same, but the players weren't, and some guys were (confused)."

I keep thinking about why I cried that day. I think it's that when the biggest and fiercest and most famous of us takes time to stand up for the smallest of us, it makes me proud to be a sportswriter, proud to cover these athletes, these men.

But I'm prouder still when a young, poor boy like this stands up with no idea any help is coming.